I Need You Every Day
by Laurenio567
Summary: The gang's five year high school reunion. Lucas and Maya fix a mistake way back from graduation.


The party had been going for a while now. Lucas had started off by talking to Farkle about his latest scientific discovery. Then he had moved on and found Riley who was chatting with Charlie. Riley had definitely grown up, taller but still very naïve and simple. Talking with her was a joy to Lucas as it always had been. But it was different. He hadn't seen her in over three months and they had a lot to catch up on. It was their five year high school reunion. Eventually he, Farkle, Riley, Zay, and Charlie all ended up in a large group, laughing and reminiscing about old times. It was great to see all of them again. Oh how he had missed them. But something was missing. More particularly…some _one_. Where was his fire? His passion? His ever-present comedy and realistic refuge? Maya Hart was either late, or not coming. Part of him hoped she wasn't coming. Things had ended on a rocky note for them at graduation.

 _Flashback:_

" _Maya I need to talk to you." Lucas walked up to her, pushing his way through the sea of red caps and gowns. Crowds had swarmed onto the stage to congratulate the class of seniors on making it to this huge milestone._

 _"Not now Huckleberry, we gotta get to Riley's party." She tried to hustle him towards the gym door. Riley was gonna have great food at her party and Maya wanted first choice._

 _"No, right now." Lucas stopped her and turned her to face him._

 _"Yes?" she looked at him expectantly._

 _"Maya, I like you." He blurted, gaining enough confidence to finally tell her. "I have feelings for you that I can't keep ignoring." She sucked in a sharp breath and bit down on her lip. She wouldn't meet his eyes. The sounds around her faded. She couldn't think. Hadn't she been wanting him to say those words? Didn't she have feelings for him too? Yet she couldn't let go of the past._

 _"So I guess things have changed since eighth grade then." She responded icily. Lucas' face fell._

 _"Maya, we were young. I had feelings for Riley then that mean nothing now. We were immature and confused and there was no way I was able to feel something like I feel about you now." He explained._

 _"Too little too late." Maya's words tumbled out even though she didn't mean them. "I had strong feelings for you Lucas. I was ready. I was mature. I knew what I felt. But you told me I didn't and chose Riley instead. Everyone chooses Riley. I thought you were gonna be the one person who chose me, but you let me down. It's too late now. I can't trust you enough to love you like that again."_

 _"Maya you didn't love me." Lucas shook his head._

 _"Excuse me!" she cried. "But I did! There wasn't a day that I stopped loving you back then."_

 _"But now…" he sighed and looked at his feet._

 _"Now I go to college and become an artist and you follow Riley somewhere and get married and have a billion kids, like it's supposed to happen." She finished with a frustrated sigh. "If I pretended that we could be together, I'd be fooling myself. I'd be getting in the way of fate. Fate wants you and Riley together. It always did."_

 _"Maya." Lucas began but she was already gone, lost in the sea of reds and yellows, lost in a sea of the past._

 _End flashback_

He wasn't ready to see her again. How could he forget those words she had said? The happy future she had deprived him of. Seeing Riley again tonight just confirmed that fate didn't want him with Riley. She and Charlie were dating now and she was very happy. And he had no desire to restart that flame they used to have. But Maya….he wanted something with Maya. The problem was that she didn't believe they could be something if they wanted to and he didn't believe that she was capable of loving.

"Don't look now, Lucas." Zay startled him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Lucas looked up from the cup in his hand. Zay motioned to the door of the gym behind him. Lucas turned. So she hadn't forgot. There she stood, framed in the doorway. She was still just as short and just as gorgeous as he remembered. Life had been good to her. Her figure was perfect and her eyes were still the brilliant sea blue. Oh he had missed her.

"Ranger Rick." Her voiced rasped as she walked straight up to him.

"Other One." He nodded and tipped his imaginary hat.

"Didn't think you'd come tonight." Zay said to Maya.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Maya chuckled and opened her arms to the tall brunette haired girl running at her. Riley dove into Maya's arms and the two girls shared a moment. It had been about a month apart for them. That was too long in their books. Once they had mostly caught up, Lucas broke into a conversation again.

"How's college?" he asked carefully.

"Graduated and not goin back." Maya laughed. "I still paint but I'm an art teacher now. I teach third graders how to slap paint on some paper and I teach high schoolers the process of light and shadow. It's a nice variety." She snickered.

"You enjoy it?" Lucas asked.

"I do." She nodded. "Didn't think I would but I do."

"So what are your plans now?" Zay asked.

"Mm, keep teaching, keep food on my table and that's good enough for me." She replied.

"She's lonely." Riley butted in. "She needs a guy."

"Riles." Maya blushed.

"You don't have a boyfriend?" Lucas couldn't help himself. He was shocked.

"Nah. I never was good at the whole love thing." She shrugged away her embarrassment and walked over to hug Farkle.

"She hasn't changed a bit." Lucas murmured.

"You missed her." Zay stepped a bit closer to me and lowered his voice.

"Of course I did. She was my friend. I think there were parts of me that she understood that Riley could never understand. Parts of me she could just see, sense. I liked who I was when I was around her. I liked…her." Lucas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But I guess life didn't consider that after graduation."

"But it didn't consider you and Riley either." Zay nodded to Charlie who was standing with Riley and Maya. Riley's slender fingers were intertwined with Charlie's.

"I'm happy for them. I know he will treat her well."

"He will." Zay nodded. "But who's going to treat Maya well?"

"You heard her. She's not looking for love. She never was. She's incapable of feeling." Lucas grumbled, the past stirring in his heart again.

"So just because she's not as emotional as Riley, you think that she doesn't deserve someone to pick her up when times get rough. Brush her off. Tell her she's beautiful everyday. Bring her chocolates and dance with her late at night. I realized back in Texas that Vanessa deserved someone to do those things for her. Of course she had hurt me. We had had a rough past. But she still deserved a great guy. And the funny thing is, after our time apart, we both matured a lot. She was the same….just happier. Wiser, and kinder, gentler. So I decided to let go of our past and treat her like she deserves instead of standing around and watching life knock her to pieces. Girls like that….they have to be protected, saved. Few of them come around in the world. They need to be preserved. It's an honor to call Vanessa my wife now. I get to protect her from all the evil out there. And it's one of my favorite hobbies." Zay smiled brightly.

"I think you got wiser too." Lucas chuckled, amazed at Zay's words and challenged by them.

"Hey Huckleberry." Maya appeared next to him again. Her blue eyes danced in the strings of lights hung around the room. "Dance with me? For old times sake." She held out her hand and we ended up on the dance floor.

"Be honest with me," she pleaded, "did you miss me?"

"Everyone did." He replied.

"I mean you." She looked down. "Did you miss me?"

"I did." He admitted. "I always do. There isn't a day that passes where I don't." she began to blush.

"It's mutual." She said under her breath. He heard and it made his heart jump a little. Could she possibly be open to…trying something again?

"Maya-"

"Lucas, please. This is hard enough for me already. Don't ask me what I think we both know you're going to." She cut him off. They both slowed their dancing. Lucas frowned slightly then grabbed her hand and led her quickly out of the gym and into the empty, quiet hallways of the school. He took a breath once they had stopped walking.

"Maya, what is holding you back? What is keeping you from just admitting that we're supposed to be together? I like you Maya. I always have." He watched as her chest began to rise and fall unsteadily. "Please don't do this to me again."

"Look, for the last time: I'm not going to pretend that I can just worm my way into a relationship with you. I told myself a long time ago that it was you Riley. Riley and Lucas. Always had been always would be."

"Then why is she in there," he motioned to the gym doors, "dancing with Charlie and holding his hand?! Maya Riley has moved on and so have I! But I haven't moved on from you. I don't think I can." He quieted his voice and reached gently for her hand. "I don't know how."

"Me neither." She whispered. "I wanted a future with you so badly."

"Then stop hurting yourself. Stop hurting me. Just say yes."

"Yes to what?" she asked gently.

"To being my girlfriend. To being my Other One. To being my Penelope. Say yes so I can be your boyfriend, your best friend, your Ranger Rick, your Huckleberry, your knight in shining armor."

"I don't know…." She replied, her voice shaking. "I…I never thought it would be ok for me to say yes if Riley was still around." Her eyes darted nervously to the gym.

"Maya," he took her other hand and held them both in front of them, "say yes."

"I…" she began, but was cut off by a loud voice at the microphone coming from the gym.

"Alright folks, the night is winding down. Say your last goodbyes and we'll see you in another five years." We heard the booming voice. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked back to me. Then she slowly began to turn back towards the gym. He watched her back as she took slow steps towards the doors. No. He wouldn't let this happen again. He wouldn't lose her. He couldn't afford to.

"Maya!" he cried and jumped forward and grabbed her arm and spun her back to face him. She looked up at him surprised, huge eyes glistening, expectancy in her face. "I'm not waiting another five years to see you. I need you every day." He pulled her close and leaned down and kissed her. Gently at first, then hungrily, his desire to hold her and have his lips on her unquenchable. Meanwhile, Maya was losing her senses, her heart beating eratically, her mind racing a hundred miles a minute. She had been dreaming for years of what it would be like to kiss Lucas Friar. And it was worth the wait. They pulled back only for air and took the moment to look into each other's eyes.

"Yes." She whispered with a small smile on her face. She blushed as a huge grin appeared on Lucas' face. He was beaming. "I will be your girlfriend."


End file.
